


Save Another, Save Yourself

by FamousSmuggler



Series: Requests and Oneshots [14]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Underfell, Angst, Betrayal, Feelings of Abandoment, Hurt/Comfort, Minor Character Death, Self-Harm, Suicidal Thoughts, Suicide Attempt, US!Sans has a bad time, blossoming feeling, mentions of physical abuse, mentions of torture
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-05
Updated: 2017-02-05
Packaged: 2018-09-22 03:20:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,810
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9580271
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FamousSmuggler/pseuds/FamousSmuggler
Summary: An traumatic event lands Sans in a world much like but unlike his own with two monster he has a lot more in common with than he was prepared for





	

**Author's Note:**

> notokveranda - Blue has gone through some trauma and nursed back to health and slowly gain himself back? Could be self insert or whatever pairing.
> 
> So, I have been wanting to do a series of these kinds of stories to set up pairings for a while just cause I love relationships blooming through trauma ^^  
> Thank you for the request Notokveranda and I hope you enjoy the read!

Darkness.

 

Pain.

 

Those were the only thing he could feel in his world now. His body, his soul, it all stung and burned, throbbing with unimaginable pain that he couldn’t seem to escape from. He didn’t remember where he was but he remembered what had happened. The sharp jeers and taunts of the brutish monsters, the bone jostling scream of their victims all ringing loudly in his skull. 

 

Where was his brother? Why...why hadn’t he been there when he called for him? He remembered calling out, again and again. Crying for him, for his big brother to make everything stop. To make the pain go away.

 

But no one came.

 

HIs sobs broke through the silence of the room, the soft muddled wishes not quite fulfilled echoing out in desperation. He knew it was wrong, that wherever his brother was that he would miss him dearly, but he wished they had killed him. If only to stop the pain.

 

After a few more minutes of silence voices began to break through, familiar yet not. One was deep and raspy while the other he couldn’t hear well enough to place. He couldn’t understand what they were saying to each other, the words far too much of a garbled mess for him to even try focusing on. It was a bit reassuring though that he wasn’t alone, that meant that someone could do what he couldn’t. He tried to open his mouth whimpering at first as the bruised, likely cracked, bones were forced to move after however long he had been in his comatose state.

 

“P-ple..please…” talking ignited a fire against his skull, simply more pain on top of the torturous amount he was already in. He would call it excruciating but soul burning was the closest he could actually relate the feeling to. A constant stream of fire set on his soul and never letting up. He wished he had stayed asleep, stayed in the darkness where he could sleep forever and a day.

 

“Bro, Boss, think the kid is wakin up.” 

 

Hands. He could feel hands. Cold, hard hands that were touching along his body, poking and prodding at each injury to ensure that whatever they were wrapped in was still in place. No, no they were trying to help him. He didn’t want that! He wanted this to end!

 

“Hey, easy! Easy! Yer banged up pretty bad.” There was a growl of frustration he tried to make out but instead it was a pathetic whimper. The pain be damned, if the owner of the voice wasn’t going to help him then he was going to do it himself. First he moved his arms, which forced a shriek to shred his body through and through, intensifying the white hot pain he was already in to even greater, more unimaginable heights. If he had rational sensors in his skull they would have been ripped to tiny strands. The hands from before tightened on his arms, the deep voice now screaming at him to calm down.

 

“Sans, you need to calm down!”

 

But it wasn’t the same deep voice, this one was new and it knew his name...it knew him. They saw his mangled, damaged body. They saw how weak and useless he really was. He could feel the sodden bandages over his eyes, the tears he tried to cry getting socked up into the fabric. There was something far too familiar with that voice though. Sans knew it belonged to someone he knew, like his brother, maybe?

 

Had Papyrus come for him after all?

 

The earlier voice growled lowly as he began to squirm again, muttering something about Sans breaking more bones that he already had. The two began to complain, arguing about what would be the best way of handling the injured skeleton. Sans couldn’t take the darkness paired with the voices anymore and reached for the bandages that blinded him, screaming at the motion yet again as a snap echoed loudly in the room.

 

“Papy! Papy please!” Fear had drowned out Sans’ pain. He couldn’t go through this, not again. The pain, the darkness, the complete and total sense of emptiness. He already was at the edge he didn’t want to be pulled back just to repeat everything again.

 

Warmth formed around his arm, caressing it in soft strokes while a gentle tug pulled at the bandages over his eyes. Sans felt himself flinching at every metallic snip that cut through the fabric, whimpering if the metal touched his skull even a little bit. Soon the material trailed down his face and Sans was able to see the room around him and the monster that was...not his brother...yet was?

 

This Papyrus wore dark colors. Reds and deep grays, with golds sprinkled on the edges of the armor he wore. There was a deep scar down his left eye socket that crept up his skull and split off into another shorter crack. The next noticeable difference were the teeth, jagged and sharp with two pairs of longer fangs near the ends of both his jaws. Lastly were the eyes. While Sans’ Papyrus usually had his sockets half lidded with an air of sloth like laziness, this Papyrus’ eyes were sharp, predatory, and deep red. And they stayed focus on Sans. 

 

He wasn’t his brother, there were too many differences. He was truly alone.

 

“Well how bout that.” The voice from before sounded out from behind the impostor Papyrus. The impersonator moved to the side and looked at the owner of the voice causing Sans to whimper. The monster was him but just like the other Papyrus he was far too different. Sharp teeth, one replaced with a slightly longer golden one, and a matching crack running down his skull stopping just at his right socket. All of this felt like some kind of sick joke like the stars above had collapsed at the chance to make a fool out of him.

 

The impostor him stepped forward with a raised hand to try and touch his forehead, stopping when Sans flinched and tried to get away from him.

 

“Tsk, I am trying to help ya kid!” the impostor snapped, moving to hold him down to make treatment easier. Sans cried out at the contact, the sudden pressure burning through him again. At the cries the Papyrus stepped forward and removed the hand from the smaller skeleton with a sharp snarl on his tongue. There was a command from the taller monster, a short yet firm and Sans’ impostor listened immediately. 

 

Hands were lifted to his chest, palms out in the form of surrender while he took steps away from the bedside. “Find his phone. I’m sure his brother is looking for him.” the sharp fanged Papyrus didn’t bother keeping his gaze on Sans’ copy cat. With the command said and done he returned to the small body laying down on the bed, leaving the other to leave the room in search of Sans’ belongings. Leather gloved hands examined more of his body and Sans quickly realized something horrible.

 

“W-why am I n-naked?” he questioned with a broken voice. There was no answer from this Papyrus and that scared him much, much more. He had blacked out while the monsters were torturing him. What else could they have done? Could they...no...they wouldn’t!

 

“Stop. You’re going to open your wounds if you keep doing that.” Sans stilled at the tightness in his tone, trying desperately to keep himself as still as possible while Papyrus worked at him. There were still squirms here and there whenever even the slightest bit of unnecessary pressure was added against his bones but aside from that Papyrus worked at him in silence, unless to tell Sans to stop squirming. The small skeleton couldn’t deny the absolute precision behind the dark skeleton’s motions. He did his best to make sure nothing he did would cause Sans anymore pain than possible and before Sans even knew it he was alone in the room with the ghost of his words to get rest floating in the air.

 

Sleep. Yes that would be nice right now, beside it was the closest thing Sans could get that would ease his pain. He was scared out of his bones that these...copy cats would just end up hurting him like the monsters from before but all and all Sans knew there was nothing he could do to stop them if they did decide to turn on him. He maneuvered his body as much as he could to give himself some semblance of comfort, allowing his tired sockets to close, hoping that the next time they opened it would be to HIS Papyrus hugging him while saying everything was just a bad dream.

 

**~.~**

 

Unfortunately for Sans, none of this was a dream. It was a nightmare, a nightmare that showed no signs of ending soon. His double told him that it had been a month already but they still hadn’t heard anything from his brother, and Sans was beginning to lose hope. Maybe Papyrus didn’t care about him anymore? But...they were brothers...he couldn’t just forget about him…

 

Could he?

 

His inner battles aside, Sans had taken a smile liking to the skeleton brothers, though he wasn’t sure they had taken much of a liking to him. To avoid confusion he had given them nicknames that they thankfully seemed to just accept. For his double, Sans called him Red and after getting through his rough exterior, the anxious skeleton proved to be nice enough. He and Sans would often sit and have short conversations as distractions while Sans’ wounds were treated. The other Papyrus; however, he was a completely different story.

 

Sans had taken to calling him Edge and he truly felt the name was a bit too perfect of a fit. The skeleton was often eerily silent whenever it was his turn to deal with the small skeleton’s injuries and his inner desires to be back in HIS home with HIS brother did not seem to go unnoticed by Edge.

 

“Y-you...you must hate me, don’t you?” Sans asked as Edge worked at the bandages around his arm. True to his nature Edge didn’t say anything when questioned but Sans had learned to watch the small shifts in the tall monster’s body, reading the body language to tell what Edge wouldn’t with his words. “I mean...look at me. I...I look like your brother but you think I’m pathetic don’t you?” Edge sighed and rose from his seated position. Sans wasn’t sure what he really wanted the skeleton monster to do. Yell at him, berate him for downing himself? Either of those would have been better than what the skeleton did, which was leave.

 

No words.

 

No additional sounds.

 

Just sudden absence.

 

Stars, Sans hated this. The isolation...the loneliness...the fact that the only person he could even talk to was a jittery, sweaty duplicate of himself. It was eating away at him! And the fact that the one monster that he felt the most comfortable with would hardly even look at him was doing absolutely nothing to help.

 

Tears swelled in Sans’ eyes as he wondered if this was why his brother hadn’t come to help him. Small hands clenched the covers of his borrowed bed, “Is that why you didn’t help me Papy? Is it cause I’m pathetic?” Those dreaded thoughts had been plaguing him severely since he woke up and was “saved” by these brothers, and with no end in sight Sans wasn’t sure how much more he could take. He was already at, what he thought, was the end of his rope when he first woke up but now, a month later...his resolve to make it all end was much greater.

 

And there was something he could do to make that happen it was just a matter of keeping his nerve now that he was healing. But was there a point? If his brother wasn’t even looking for him then would it really be all that hard?

 

As if to elaborate his point, the tortured screams of his attack flooded his memory. The taunts and jeers from the assaulting monsters racked against Sans’ already throbbing skull. He could hear the cries and begs of the monster that he tried to save, the monster that wa unjustifiably dusted for the amusement of those horrible thugs. Stars, he could still see what they did...the way they broke him with little to no effort. And their laughs...Sans could still hear their laughs. The way their breath felt on his bones!

 

Sans couldn’t do this. He couldn’t do this!

 

What had he been thinking?! Why did he think that of all the monsters in the Underground HE could protect someone? He even promised...gave his word like it meant something. All he did was give that poor monster hope. Hope that they would be safe, that he would protect them.

 

He really was some kind of idiot.

 

It was all his fault, everything that had happened. “I don’t deserve this second chance…”

 

In the solace of his room, Sans solidified his resolve and forced the small, cyan soul to manifest from its safe haven within his rib cage. Its surface, while malleable, held the appearance of pristine glass, smooth and shimmering. A single phalange pressed into the soul and Sans felt his body jolt as he gasped.

 

It hurt...a lot.

 

But that was the point right? Wasn’t that what he wanted? Sans calmed himself with deep breaths and repeated his mantra again and again until it was the only thing in his mind. He didn’t want to live with the guilt of his failure in a place that was so familiar yet so absolutely, terrifyingly different. Sans didn’t want to live knowing that there was a strong chance that his brother was happier now that he was missing.

 

The next surge of pressure against his soul went mostly unnoticed, at least at first. His blunt thumbs pressed deeper and deeper into the pseudo jelly surface until it gave way with a light pop. A sudden liberating feeling embraced Sans. His worries and fears simply melted away at the sound, cascading down his bones in a smooth, fluid stream.

 

But once Sans opened his eyes and saw the unstable, liquid magic pouring from his soul, watching as the puncture expanded out like a cloth on fire, the fear returned worse than before. Soon he would be nothing but a pile of dust, barely a memory to those that knew him.

 

Then...then came the pain. Sans felt his voice rip through the room in a bone chilling wail. This was so much worse than when he first woke up, how could that even be possible? It was as if his entire body had been set ablaze while his bones were meticulously shaved of their surface. There was also a slow grinding pressure that collapsed down on him, pinning him down so he could not get away.

 

“Kid?! What the hell hap-! Oh shit!” Red all but barrelled into the room after Sans’ second scream but had to brace himself in efforts to calm the panic that was swelling in his own soul. Red eyelights stared at the leaking, deteriorating blue soul in fright “Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck!” Red coiled his hands around the fragile soul, spilling his magic into it as safely as he could to keep the injury from expanding more than it had. Sans’ screams beat against his skull but Red couldn’t muster the brass to tell him to stop. This wasn’t a broken bone that would hurt for a bit then go away, or a cut that could be bandaged.

 

This was a soul injury...this was permanent.

 

“Red! Red, please! It hurts! It hurts!” Sans cried, his fingers digging into the other’s jacket sleeves as he did.

 

“Shh, sh-shh! I-it’s okay! I gotcha kiddo, I gotcha!” Red stuttered as he tried desperately to concentrate on the task before him. A feeling of relief washed over him when heavy footsteps echoed through the home. Edge was quick to tear through the room and aid Red in pushing magic into the soul to counteract the deterioration. Sans’ screams, though still soul wrenchingly loud, calmed slightly at seeing the darkly dressed Papyrus.

 

A leather clad hand gripped the back of Sans’ skull, pushing him forward until his forehead clinked gently against Edge who was shushing the monster as soothingly as the situation would allow.

 

“Papy...Papy, it hurts!”

 

Edge shushed him again, “I know, I know.” Sans begged again and again to make the pain go away and each plea was met with soft words. Red watched his brother intently, focusing on his body language in case the strain became too much, but with each passing second he could see the determination in Edge’s eyes to make sure Sans made it out in some broken resemblance of okay. The tall monster continued to speak soft words against Sans’ skull and even closed his hand over both of the smaller skeleton’s.

 

Everything was touch and go for most of the night, but after what was most likely hours, the brother’s felt Sans go limp. His body had taken in all that it could and left the injured monster unconscious. Edge had taken hold of Sans, gently caressing the back of his skull while letting his own labored breaths calm.

 

“How bad?”

 

Red sighed as he surveyed the soul for a moment before returning it back to where it belonged, “Coulda been worse, I guess. Just glad we got to him when we did.” Edge gave a soft hum for his answer but chose not to move from his spot. “Hey, Boss? You, um, you’re okay? Right?” The question prompted the taller skeleton to shift Sans a bit so he could look at his brother, the worry lines under his sockets a bit more prominent than they usually were.

 

“Yes, brother, I am. Go rest. I’ll stay with him.” There was a flux in Edge’s voice that Red noticed but decided against questioning. He could tell just from the look on his face that something was bothering his little brother, and Sans was likely the centerpoint for the feeling. Neither needed the added stress anyway. It did, however, take little to no convincing to get Red to leave. After something as strenuous as mending a soul, the older skeleton was more than eager to take a nice, long, and hopefully uninterrupted nap. Though he was a bit envious of his brother’s endurance, who looked ready to go again after the short breather.

 

“Alright, call if ya need, bro.” Edge nodded and waved a dismissive hand, waiting until Red closed the door to allow his guard to drop and released all of his pent up emotion in a single, low growl. Fear, worry, anger...Edge felt all of them but right now was not the time to act on them, not with Sans in his condition.

 

No, right now all he could do was wait for his brother’s little doppelganger to wake up. Whenever that was going to be. The fanged skeleton sighed and allowed himself to gently lean his forehead down against Sans’ once more, his voice grinding out in a harsh whisper, “I won’t let anyone hurt you...not again.”

 

**~.~**

 

After his suicide attempt, Edge did not let Sans out of his sight if he could avoid it and Red had been uncharacteristically helpful with ensuring that the two skeletons did not have to part often. The older brother worked additional hours so Edge could stay with the smaller version of himself and even spun tall tales with Undyne so the ornery captain would not come looking for her second in command. Red couldn’t explain it well himself, but just seeing edge so worried over this other Sans left him...hopeful. It was no secret to either of the brothers that their “Kill or be killed” home was a stress inducing, unhealthy environment, but something that Red never shared with Edge was that he worried that their world had damaged him, that the younger brother would lose himself in the chaos and turn him calloused to everything he once cared for. 

 

Yet here he was, fussing over another Sans, and an added bonus was that their own relationship had gotten considerably better as well. So much so that Red didn’t want Sans to leave. The little guy had brought them both so much closer to each other that he worried that once he was gone that they would fall into a regression and the potential of that backlash scared him. Beside it was clear that Edge, and himself, had grown attached to him...why should he have to leave?

 

“Red?” the sudden meek voice pulled the jittering skeleton from his musings. It was a rare occurrence that he and Edge were both off on the same day but it was just another means to give Sans whatever attention he would be needing.

 

Red stepped forward from his spot at Edge’s desk, standing beside the bed “S’mthing wrong?” In truth, Red was exhausted. Taking care of Sans had been priority number one for some time now but Edge had far too many responsibilities to just drop them in secret. It was hard but would do it for his brother. Sans perked up at the question, a light, cyan blush dusting over his zygomatic bones.

 

“N-no, but Edge fell asleep.” Red shifted his gaze to the edge of the bed where his brother was hushed over with his arms crossed beneath his skull, acting as a  pillow “I know he doesn’t like to sleep when it’s his turn to help but he looked so peaceful.” Red took the rare moment to scan over his brother’s sleeping form. His chest still donned his guard armor, which had to be one of the most uncomfortable things to sleep in, but that wasn’t what had Red’s jaw dropping.

 

“How long has he been doing...that?” A phalange pointed at the joined hands on the bed and Sans’ blush grew deeper. The small skeleton began to retell the story that Edge had told him before the guardsman fell asleep and unfortunately, Red knew it well. 

 

It was the story of their upbringing. Their childhood. With each detail that Sans retold, Red visibly cringed, not noticing the hand over his right eye socket until Sans began to profusely apologize.

 

“I...I wasn’t trying to make you upset.” He sighed “I just...the bond you two have. It must be really strong to survive all of that.” Red gave him a sad chuckle as he agreed. They might fight a lot but he and Edge still had each other through all of the bullshit their world through at them, but it was that very realization that forced him to acknowledge how selfish he had been toward Sans. A step was taken closer to the sleeping monster and Red smoothed his hand over Edge’s skull.

 

“...S-sans…” the voice was raspy and shrouded in sleep “I’m...I’m sorry…” Edge damn near never spoke in his sleep, normally far too high strung to actually get any real sleep in the first place, but the few times he ever had, it always seemed to be the same apology from the same nightmare. Red continued the gentle pats over Edge’s skull, shushing his sleeping brother until whatever was distressing him was gone. Sans watched with sad eyes, a part of him wondering what the chances were that this could have happened to himself and his brother.

 

He did his best to push the thoughts away once he saw Red go to move away. There was one question he wanted to ask Edge before he fell asleep but didn’t get the chance and hoped that it wasn’t too personal that Red wouldn’t answer.

 

“Red, if you don’t mind my asking, how did Edge’s socket get cracked?” His alternate’s eyelights vanished from his sockets and Sans immediately regretted asking “I-I’m sorry! You don’t have to tell me if it’s too personal. Edge just kinda clammed up when he mentioned it is all.”

 

There was a noise close to a sob from the other skeleton before he spoke “Just know that it wasn’t his fault kiddo, you don’t wanna know the grim details.” Sans respected the answer and dropped the subject. Though his curiosity still ate at him he could easily tell that whatever had happened was not something easily shared and he did not want the brothers to feel pressured to do so.

 

Red checked the small skeleton one last time, made sure bandages were where they needed to be and bones were setting correctly before announcing his departure. Once out of the room he teleported to the small workplace behind the house and sighed. Before Sans had fallen into their hell hole of a world, Red had lost hope of ever getting himself and his brother out of the Underground, but now he felt that hope returning. He was scared of his little blue doppelganger leaving them but he reminded himself that Sans had a Papyrus of his own that was surely looking for him. 

 

Keeping him here was selfish...no matter how happy he and Edge were.

 

The machine was seven layers of hell dusty and needed a lot more work than Red remembered from way back when, but he wasn’t against the challenge. Not when his brother was involved.

 

**~.~**

 

Sans didn’t know how long he had officially been with the brothers. Edge would often tell him two months but Sans knew it had been a lot longer and that Edge was merely trying to make him feel better that there was still no word from his own brother. It was a bit shocking to him how gracious of hosts the brothers had been. Accommodating for his every need despite their own responsibilities, even giving up their own space so that Sans would be comfortable. The young skeleton had gotten immensely attached to the brothers and their dynamic but it had also made him angry with his own brother.

 

“Hey Edge?” The tall skeleton turned to face him, setting down the cooking utensils he had gathered up in preparation of whatever meal he would be whipping up. “Why hasn’t my brother come for me yet?” Edge’s body went rigid at the question. Did Sans want to go home? That was a stupid question...of course he did. Edge wasn’t HIS Papyrus...he was nothing more than an impersonator…

 

Suddenly the skeleton hardened his features, “Red is close to finding him. It won’t be long now.” It stung to say those words, despite having known for weeks now. Edge had found Red curled over schematics with a cup of coffee, or ten, in hand. The papers were scattered everywhere and Red had the same, sad look that Edge no doubtedly had now. As he turned away from Sans, he missed the sad look on his face. He had opened up so much to Sans over the course of his stay with the brothers, so to see Edge so suddenly closed off and speaking so bluntly hurt more than Sans wanted to admit.

 

As his mouth opened to ask Edge if everything was okay, a loud boom shook the foundation of the home. Far too loud to be a normal fight and much too close to just be the rowdy patrons of Grillby’s, Edge rushed over to Sans and picked him up, honing in on the threat immediately.

 

“Edge, what’s happening!?” the skeleton cried out in fear. The guardsman couldn’t answer for certain but he could feel the magical pressure intensifying in the air, whoever was causing the commotion was angry. Sans was carried to the stairs and told to go up to his room, to lock the door and not let anyone in but the little skeleton refused.

 

“Sans this isn’t-!”

 

“SANS!”

 

A new voice joined the array of sounds and it wasn’t Red’s, there were too many similarities to Edge’s. There was a thunderous crash of magic that forced Edge to set him down and summon a long spine-like lance in his hand. Sans took a step back, falling against the first few steps of the stairway as the door was beaten against relentlessly, creaking under the pressure but withstanding the assault.

 

When it became apparent that the door would not cave under force another sound of popped loudly, releasing some of the magical pressure in the air and forming a new figure in the living room. Edge tightened his grip on his weapon and fought off the crippling unease that came over him. The monster that stood before him was...him. Sans’ version of him. This Papyrus had no scars and his teeth were mostly blunt with the exception of his slightly pointed canines, his stature was broad with thicker bones and he was a few inches taller than Edge himself.

 

Golden orange magic flared from his left socket, his mouth pulled back into a snarl as he stared at the slightly trembling monster behind Edge, covered in bandages and an arm in a sling. 

 

“Get the fuck away from my baby bro.” Papyrus growled, hate dripping from every word. Edge narrowed his eyes and kept his weapon leveled with Papyrus’ chest. Something wasn’t right. Why hadn’t Sans ran into his brother’s arms? “Hey! I get that you don’t have fucking ears but I know you can hear me pal! Get away from him!” Edge refused to drop his guard, not with Sans as close as he was. He kept his gaze trained on the intruder. If Papyrus made a move, Edge would have to be twice as fast to make sure Sans wouldn’t get caught.

 

Magic filled the room again, “And how do I know you’re actually his brother?” Edge asked curtly “There are alternates, how do I know you are not just a fake?” Sans whimpered. He knew the truth that this was his Papyrus, his brother, but he couldn’t bring himself to approach him. THe anger he felt still had a hold on him. Sans feared that his hesitance would lead to a fight between the tall monsters and that one would get hurt or worse.  _ No, no, no! _ He didn’t want that!

 

“S-stop! Stop it!” The sudden scream made both skeletons freeze and turn their gaze to Sans “I don’t want anyone getting hurt! Not...not again. Please, not again.” Edge stepped to the side to look at the small monster better allowing his alternate to take a few steps closer to his little brother, which earned him a lance pointed at his throat.

 

The guardsman made it very clear that nothing was to be done unless Sans okayed it, putting extra emphasis on Sans being in control. Thankfully, Papyrus nodded and stayed at his halted spot and looking hopefully at his brother.

 

The hoodie clad skeleton flashed a small smile, “Bro...stars...Sans, I’ve been worried sick about you.” Sans shifted his eyes away from the floor to glare at the stairs “When Undyne told me about what happened...I...Sans there was so much dust. And your bandana. I thought you…” A hand instinctively went to his neck, the bareness there had been forgotten with the events that had transpired as of late.

 

“Did...did you even look?” Sans whispered quietly, flinching a little when Papyrus asked him to speak up “I said did you even look!? Did you look for me!?” The sigh from the older brother did not bode well for him.

 

“Well...no. Not initially anyway.” 

 

“You left me! I called and called and you left me there!” Sans screamed. Tears fell from his sockets as his one good hand clenched his skull “What were you doing!? Sleeping?! Drinking!? Hanging out at Muffet’s ignoring my calls like you always do!?”

 

“Sans, c’mon bro…”

 

“No! You didn’t...you didn’t even look for me…” his body trembled furiously “You didn’t care enough to-!” Edge’s warnings be damned, Papyrus lunged forward and hugged his brother tightly. Sans didn’t fight the hug off, much to Edge’s internal dismay, but he didn’t hug him back.

 

“Don’t you dare say that! I care bro...so damn much…” Sans shook his head despite the emotion he could feel pulsing from his brother “C’mon bro, let’s get you home.” At that Sans pushed away from him. His voice came out in frantic stutters in his resistance and the hurt was evident in Papyrus’ face when his little brother scurried back to Edge and clung to his body. The lance tip found its way back to Papyrus’ face to keep him where he was.

 

The skeleton’s gaze was toggled between the two as he begged for Sans to just come home.

 

“N-no...I want to stay here. I want to stay with Edge.”

 

“But Sans…” The small skeleton turned his head into Edge’s side and continued to whimper his doubts into the skeleton’s tight black pants. Deep down he knew his brother did care, but the pain was too much, especially after everything he had been through. Papyrus had admitted to not looking for him because he had conceded to the thought that Sans was dead and that was just too much for the little brother.

 

There were footsteps at the top banister, groggy cursings about people not respecting one’s need for sleep. As another pair of red eyes connected with the newcomer, Papyrus felt utterly defeated. He had found his brother just to lose him again.

 

“He should stay as well, Boss.” the short, red-eyed Sans said nonchalantly

 

Edge turned with a snarl, “What?!” Red repeated himself with a yawn. The exhaustion was written over his features in intense details.

 

“You would want me back after all of this Boss. Let him stay. They need to work out their bullshit anyway.” Edge sighed, agreeing with his older brother’s reasoning but adding a snide remark about never losing his brother in the first place. Red chuckled before yawning again “Yea, I know bro. Oi, Stretch. You can stay here while the kiddo recovers just...don’t do anything stupid. Boss ain’t gonna listen to me about everything.” Papyrus nodded earning a small smile from his brother before he hid behind Edge again. It wasn’t an ideal situation to either of the tall monsters in the room, but they knew that Sans would be needing both of them if he were to be getting back to his old self, and even if it were to be shared with this sad excuse of a copy of himself, Edge wanted nothing more than to see as he was before.

 

No matter how long it took.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! I hope you all enjoyed ^^


End file.
